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Summary
Here’s a quick recap of recent events:
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Ireland imposes some of Europe’s toughest Covid-19 curbs. Ireland announced new coronavirus measures from midnight Wednesday, shutting non-essential retail, limiting restaurants and pubs to take away service and telling people not to travel more than five kilometres (3 miles) from their home.
- Greater Manchester given midday deadline for tier 3 deal. The UK government has told Greater Manchester leaders that it will impose the country’s strictest coronavirus restrictions on nearly 3 million people if no deal is reached by midday on Tuesday, in a dramatic escalation of the standoff.
- Trump says Americans ‘tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots’ discuss Covid. Donald Trump once again attacked his top public health expert, using a call with campaign staff to call Anthony Fauci “a disaster” and to claim “people are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots” discuss ways to combat the coronavirus.
- Covid vaccine will not be available in UK until spring, says Vallance. A vaccine against coronavirus will not eradicate the disease or be widely available before the spring, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser has cautioned, following reports that a jab could be available as early as the new year.
- Live coronavirus found on frozen food packaging in China. Chinese health authorities investigating a recent Covid-19 outbreak say they have discovered live coronavirus on frozen food packaging, a finding that suggests the virus can survive in cold supply chains.
- Wales to go into national two-week ‘firebreak’ Covid lockdown. The Welsh government has mounted a staunch defence of the need for a nationwide lockdown as it announced “sharp and deep” measures despite having the lowest rate of Covid-19 cases of the four UK nations.
The midday deadline has been met with fury in Greater Manchester, where the Labour MP Andrew Gwynne accused the government of being “completely contemptuous” of the region, and council leaders said ministers had offered no compromise as they sought to close pubs, bars and other venues.
Gwynne, the Labour MP for Denton and Reddish in Stockport, said:
I think it’s disgraceful that the government still hasn’t set out what their ‘offer’ is. Nor, I believe, have they notified the mayor or council leaders of this latest deadline.
They’re just completely contemptuous of Greater Manchester with their spin, threats and demands when all we want are workable measures and proper protections for our businesses and residents after three months of failed local lockdowns already.
Sean Fielding, the Labour leader of Oldham council, said: “A deal would require both sides to compromise and consistently they’ve offered no compromise from the position they’ve had since the beginning. Why are they pretending this is a negotiation when they’re not prepared to negotiate?”
The move also risks infuriating influential Conversative MPs including Graham Brady and William Wragg, who both represent Greater Manchester constituencies and have made clear their opposition to Tier 3 measures.
Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, told the health secretary Matt Hancock earlier on Monday that many people were “sceptical” that closing pubs, bingo halls and gyms would make a “significant difference” in tackling coronavirus.
Updated
Mexico City’s mayor has warned tighter coronavirus curbs could come into effect later in the week as Covid-19 hospitalisations in the capital rise.
“We still have time to take preventative measures to keep [hospitalisations[ from increasing in the coming weeks,” mayor Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters, noting that hospital beds for coronavirus patients are just under half-full.
Hospitalisations have ticked up for nearly 10 days, and officials are monitoring the trend this week to determine if it indicates an upswing of infections in Mexico’s biggest urban hub - a metropolis of some 9 million people ringed by dense suburban sprawl.
Sheinbaum said she did not want to ban any activity outright, but would consider limitations such as reducing operating hours of some businesses to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed and to avoid more deaths.
Mexico has lost 86,167 lives to the coronavirus pandemic and registered 851,227 infections, according to government data, although the true figures could be much higher.
“Let’s be aware that the pandemic is continuing ... we have to keep protecting ourselves,” Sheinbaum said.
Updated
The implication of Robert Jenrick’s announcement of a midday deadline for Greater Manchester is that tier 3 will be imposed on the region if a deal isn’t reached.
The statement follows a warning last week by Boris Johnson that the government would act to impose the stricter measures it they could not get an agreement with local leaders.
It came after the latest talks on Monday aimed at securing an agreed way forward broke up without a deal.
In a joint statement, mayor Andy Burnham and Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese said they still hoped for a “positive outcome”.
But at the same time they made clear their determination to hold out for a financial support package.
They said it was “surprising and disappointing” that an earlier offer of a hardship fund to top up furlough payments and support the self-employed had been taken “off the table”.
Yesterday a leaked NHS document revealed the area is set to run out of intensive care beds to treat Covid-19 patients, and some of those units in the region’s 12 hospitals are already full.
Updated
More from Ireland’s taoiseach, Micheál Martin, after announcing strict new lockdown measures in the country:
I understand, and I feel very personally and profoundly, the sense of disappointment, the feelings of loneliness, perhaps even the despair that this announcement will bring for many.
The days are getting shorter and colder but I ask you to remember this: even as the winter comes in, there is hope. And there is light.
Martin added that if everyone pulled together, the country would be able to celebrate Christmas “in a meaningful way”.
It won’t be the same Christmas that we have enjoyed in years past, but if we all pull together and follow the spirit of these new rules, it will be a very special time and will give us all some respite from the hardship of the last seven months.
If each of us does what is asked of us for a period of just six weeks, we will suppress this virus and we will emerge from these restrictions on 1 December.
Updated
Greater Manchester given midday deadline for tier 3 deal
The communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, has written to local leaders in Greater Manchester giving them until midday on Tuesday to reach an agreement on the introduction of Tier 3 restrictions.
In a statement Jenrick said:
There are now more Covid-19 patients in Greater Manchester hospitals than in the whole of the south-west and south-east combined.
But, unfortunately, despite recognising the gravity of the situation, local leaders have been so far unwilling to take the action that is required to get this situation under control.
I have written to local leaders this evening to make clear that if we cannot reach agreement by midday tomorrow then I must advise the prime minister that despite our best endeavours we’ve been unable to reach agreement.
It’s not too late for local leaders to work with us to take action.
Earlier this evening, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “We went into today’s meeting with the government with a positive and unanimous view amongst Greater Manchester leaders that we should seek a resolution as soon as possible.
“We had been encouraged by earlier discussions at an official level where the idea of a hardship fund, to top up furlough payments and support the self-employed, had been tabled by the government.
“It was both surprising and disappointing when this idea was taken off the table by the secretary of state.”
Updated
Preliminary results from the late-stage human trial of Russia’s main coronavirus vaccine candidate could include data from 5,000-10,000 participants, Denis Logunov, a director at the Gamaleya Institute that developed the vaccine, said.
Russia’s plan to publish preliminary data about the Sputnik V jab as early as November is likely to make it one of the first vaccine developers to share any data from a final stage trial, known as Phase III, but also puts it at odds with competitors.
The Sputnik V trial, involving 40,000 volunteers, has been underway in Moscow since the beginning of September.
Interim results, when published, will be based on the first 42 days of monitoring participants, Gamaleya developers told Reuters last month.
To meet a November target, the interim results will have to be based on a limited data set - between 5,000 and 10,000 people - due to logistical challenges.
Two dozen clinics in Moscow have been racing to administer the vaccine to volunteers, but only around 16,000 people have received the first dose of the two-shot jab so far. There is then a 21-day wait until the second dose can be administered.
Setting a target timeframe for publishing interim results is unusual.
Many Western vaccine developers have said the publication of interim results depends on how many volunteers report becoming infected with coronavirus, thereby allowing the placebo and vaccine groups to be compared. A date for when this threshold is met cannot be set in advance.
Russia has been pushing ahead with its potential coronavirus vaccine at full speed, licensing it for domestic use before large-scale trials had even begun. It is also marketing the shot abroad.
Interim Phase III results may be useful for foreign regulators deciding whether to procure supplies of Sputnik V or authorise local trials of the jab.
Residents of the Berchtesgadener Land district of Bavaria will not be able to leave their homes without a valid reason for two weeks from Tuesday, making it the first area in Germany to go back into lockdown since April.
The decision, which takes effect from 2 pm (1200 GMT) on Tuesday, follows a spike in coronavirus cases in the district to 272.8 per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days.
“The restrictions on going out we have decided today will apply initially for 14 days,” Bavarian agriculture minister Michaela Kaniber told a news conference.
Under the measures, schools, restaurants, bars, theatres, gyms, cinemas and hotels will be closed. Church services will be allowed. Berchtesgadener Land has a population of some 106,000.
While Germany’s infection rates are lower than in much of Europe, they have been accelerating and hit a daily record of 7,830 on Saturday, according to the Robert Koch Institute for infections diseases.
Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to curb social contacts and keep travel to a minimum on Saturday after federal and state governments struggled to agree on how to contain a second wave of coronavirus infections.
German leaders have been unable to agree on tougher measures to contain a second wave. Courts in several regions have, meanwhile, overturned bans on hotel stays for visitors from infection hotspots.
Ireland will close most shops and amenities and impose a 5km (3 mile) travel limit, some of the severest Covid-19 restrictions in Europe, to curb surging infection rates.
The government has announced that from midnight on Wednesday the country will move to its highest lockdown tier for six weeks.
Visits to private homes will not be permitted and there are to be no gatherings except for tightly controlled weddings and funerals.
A graduated fine system for those who breach the 5km travel limit will be announced later this week, as will new guidelines on social bubbles. Two households can meet outdoors within the travel limit.
Non-essential retail will close along with barbers’ shops, beauty salons, gyms, leisure centres and cultural amenities. Pubs, cafes and restaurants will be allowed to serve takeout meals only.
Schools and creches are to remain open, but teachers’ unions signalled they may challenge this, citing their members’ safety. Martin Marjoram, the president of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland, said his members were anxious and more rapid coronavirus testing was needed for schools to remain open.
A top Lebanese security official has tested positive for Covid-19 in the US, forcing him to delay his return from talks in Washington and to cancel scheduled meetings in Paris.
Major-General Abbas Ibrahim is in good health, the directorate of General Security, which he heads, said in a tweet.
Ibrahim met US national security adviser Robert O’Brien at the White House last week to discuss American citizens held in Syria, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Contacts of people confirmed to have coronavirus should be properly quarantined, the World Health Organization has said, as the pandemic surges in Europe and North America.
WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan linked soaring transmission rates in the northern hemisphere to the failure to implement the vital step rigorously.
He said if he could have one wish, it would be to ensure “every contact of a confirmed case is in quarantine for the appropriate period”.
“I do not believe that has occurred systematically, anywhere,” he told a virtual press conference from the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, saying it was “a good part of the reason why we’re seeing such high numbers”.
Ryan said that about half of the 48 countries in the UN health agency’s European region had seen roughly 50% increases in cases within the past week - and hospitalisations and death rates were beginning to track those rises.
However, there was hope that deaths and serious cases would not reach the levels seen earlier this year.
Ryan said the average age of sufferers was now much younger, treatment had improved and those infected may have been exposed to lower doses of the virus because of physical distancing and mask wearing.
As Wisconsin battles one of the worst coronavirus surges in the US, a judge on Monday reinstated an order from governor Tony Evers’ administration limiting indoor public gatherings.
The order, issued earlier this month to stem rising new Covid-19 infections in the state, put a 25% capacity limit on the number of people who may gather indoors, including at bars and restaurants, until 6 November.
“This critically important ruling will help us prevent the spread of this virus by restoring limits on public gatherings,” Evers said in a statement.
Wisconsin, one of several battleground states in the upcoming US presidential election, is scrambling to contain a resurgence of the coronavirus that officials fear could overwhelm the state’s hospitals.
Evers’ emergency directive was challenged in court shortly after it was issued on 6 October, and a judge initially blocked it on 14 October.
Wisconsin is one of five states where more than 20% of Covid-19 tests are coming back positive. Local health officials last week warned about “very intense community spread in all age groups” as they announced a string of grim records.
However, a field hospital erected at fairgrounds outside Milwaukee for Covid-19 patients was empty as of Sunday, according to Wisconsin health authorities.
US president Donald Trump said he would take a coronavirus test before the next presidential debate with Democratic candidate Joe Biden this week.
“Sure I would have no problem with that,” Trump told reporters when he was asked whether he would be tested before Thursday’s debate in Nashville.
Trump announced on 2 October that he had tested positive for Covid-19, and has declined to say when he last tested negative before the previous debate held on 29 September.
Ireland to move to highest restrictions
Ireland will move to the highest level of Covid-19 restrictions under the government’s five-tier living with Covid roadmap.
Cabinet ministers have agreed to place the country under level 5 restrictions from midnight on Wednesday for six weeks in a bid to combat the rise in cases of the virus.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting in Dublin on Monday evening.
The restrictions will last until 1 December.
Updated
Italy’s government has agreed on a request from the hard-hit Lombardy region to impose further restrictions to curb a new surge in infections, a health ministry spokesman told Reuters.
Lombardy, centred around Italy’s financial capital Milan, accounts for some 128,400 of the over 423,500 coronavirus cases detected in Italy since the outbreak was discovered in February.
The Lombardy region said in a statement it would propose the government stop non-essential economic activities and people’s movements between 11pm and 5am from 22 October, adding they would also be asked to shut down all large shops on Saturday and Sunday.
Summary
Here’s a quick recap of the latest coronavirus developments across the globe:
- Trump says Americans ‘tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots’ discuss Covid. Donald Trump once again attacked his top public health expert, using a call with campaign staff to call Anthony Fauci “a disaster” and to claim “people are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots” discuss ways to combat the coronavirus.
- Live coronavirus found on frozen food packaging in China. Chinese health authorities investigating a recent Covid-19 outbreak say they have discovered live coronavirus on frozen food packaging, a finding that suggests the virus can survive in cold supply chains.
- ‘Killer’ cells in Ebola immunity study could help Covid research. Immunity from the deadly Ebola virus could last years after the infection, the world’s longest study of survivors by British and Guinean scientists has concluded in findings that could have implications for Covid immunity research.
- Belgium is facing a “tsunami” of infection: health minister. Belgium is losing control of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and is very close to being overwhelmed by a “tsunami” of infection, the country’s health minister said.
- Iran’s daily coronavirus death toll hits 337. Iran saw a big spike in the number of coronavirus deaths reported over the previous 24 hours with a rise from 252 to a new record of 337. The figures were described as the bitterest day and black day by the Iranian press.
Hi everyone, this is Jessica Murray, I’m taking over the blog for the next few hours.
As always, feel free to pass on any story tips or personal experiences you would like to share.
Email: jessica.murray@theguardian.com
Twitter: @journojess_
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 8,128,524 cases of the new coronavirus on Monday, an increase of 47,035 from its previous count, Reuters reports.
The number of deaths had risen by 475 to 218,986.
It is “unlikely” a coronavirus vaccine will stop the disease completely, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser has said.
PA reports:
Giving evidence to the joint Commons and Lords National Security Strategy Committee, Sir Patrick Vallance said that only one disease - smallpox - had ever been completely eradicated.
He said that in future, treating Covid-19 may become more like seasonal flu.
Sir Patrick told the committee: “I think it is unlikely that we will end up with a truly sterilising vaccine that completely stops infection.
“It is likely that this disease will circulate and be endemic.
“My assessment - and I think that’s the view of many people - is that’s the likely outcome.
“Clearly as management becomes better, as you get vaccination that will decrease the chance of infection and the severity of the disease - or whatever the profile of the vaccines are, this then starts to look more like annual flu than anything else and that may be the direction we end up going in.”
French health authorities said the number of people treated in intensive care units for Covid-19 has gone beyond the 2,000 threshold on Monday, a first since May 17.
Reuters reports:
The number of people hospitalised for the disease stood above the 11,000 threshold for the first time since June 12.
France has reported soaring COVID-19 infections since the beginning of September, prompting the government to put nine cities, including Paris, under an initial four-week curfew running from 9 pm to 6 am.
US president Donald Trump called coronavirus expert Anthony Fauci a “disaster” on Monday and sought to reassure campaign workers he still has a path to victory on Election Day.
Reuters reports:
Trump and Fauci, a member of his coronavirus task force, have been at odds over how best to handle a pandemic that has killed more than 219,000 people in the United States and weakened the Republican president’s Nov. 3 re-election bid.
Fauci has openly complained about being cited in a Trump re-election campaign advertisement and said in an interview broadcast on Sunday night by CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he was not surprised Trump himself contracted the virus.
“Fauci is a disaster. If I listened to him, we*d have 500,000 deaths,” Trump said on a call with campaign workers which the campaign allowed reporters to join.
Speaking from his signature hotel in Las Vegas ahead of two rallies in Arizona, Trump said Americans were fed up with pandemic restrictions.
“People are saying, ‘Whatever. Just leave us alone.’ They*re tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots,” said Trump, whose rallies include many supporters not wearing masks and standing shoulder to shoulder at odds with the guidance of Fauci and other public health experts.
A ‘test-and-release system’ to cut the quarantine period for international arrivals to the UK should be in place by 1 December, the transport secretary has said.
Grant Shapps said he was “extremely hopeful” that the system, which would require a single coronavirus test to be taken about a week after arrival and paid for privately, would be ready in six weeks’ time, depending on sufficient tests being available through the private sector.
Speaking to the aviation industry Airlines 2050 summit, Shapps said the government travel taskforce he chairs had been “working extensively with health experts and the private testing sector on the practicalities” of such a regime, as well as discussing possible pre-departure test and isolation schemes with partner countries.
He said the taskforce was in contact with more than a dozen firms about different rapid tests. The taskforce is due to report to the prime minister at the start of November on a reformed entry regime.
When Helen began coughing up phlegm in January she thought she just had a chest infection. She was given antibiotics in February and it was only when the cough returned in March and she fell seriously ill, that the 46-year-old from Rugby, and her husband, became concerned. “We thought then I had either got the chest infection back or Covid,” she said.
She was prescribed more antibiotics, but was recommended to avoid attending hospital for an X-ray because of the pandemic. “It was really horrific. My husband would stay awake and watch me breathe,” she said. Helen’s condition worsened. Her cough continued, accompanied by other problems, including wheezing, breathlessness and fatigue and Helen began to think she might have “long Covid”.
But it was X-rays and scans in July, once she had started coughing up blood, that delivered a shock: Helen had a tumour in her lungs. She went straight to surgery, which confirmed she had a slow-growing lung cancer.
Helen’s story is not unique. Now charities and specialists have raised concerns that people may be mistaking the symptoms of lung cancer, such as a longstanding cough, breathlessness, and unexplained tiredness, for coronavirus, leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment.
Spain’s cumulative tally of coronavirus infections increased by 37,889 over the weekend, bringing the nationwide total to 974,449, health ministry data showed on Monday.
Reuters reports:
Total deaths from the virus increased by 217 to 33,992, according to the ministry.
In recent weeks, Spain has frequently reported more than 12,000 cases per day after hitting a record of more than 16,000 in mid-September.
French first lady Brigitte Macron will self-isolate for seven days after having been in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19, Reuters reports citing BFM TV.
BFM reported that the first lady had had contact with the person on 15 October and that she had displayed no symptoms of the respiratory disease.
Updated
The White House is “cautiously optimistic” that Democratic House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi may be moving toward making a deal on a new coronavirus stimulus bill, a spokeswoman said on Monday.
The White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said in an interview with Fox News Channel it was her understanding that Pelosi and the treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is traveling in the Middle East, would discuss the matter at 3pm EDT (7pm GMT).
“We’re feeling cautiously optimistic that she may be moving toward where we have set the bar,” Farah said.
A total of 184 countries have now joined the Covax facility, which aims to finance vaccines to be distributed fairly to both rich and poor countries, Tedros has said. He addd that Ecuador and Uruguay are the most recent countries to join.
Equitably sharing vaccines is the fastest way to safeguard high-risk communities, stabilise health systems and drive a truly global economic recovery.
Kim Sledge of the band Sister Sledge will donate proceeds from a cover of the band’s classic song We Are Family to the World Health Organization Foundation, the WHO’s director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.
He added that the money would be used to support the Covid-19 response and strengthen health services around the world. Sledge joined Tedros at a news briefing on Monday. He said:
I would like to thank Kim Sledge for her kind offer to donate proceeds from the sale of her special edition cover of We Are Family.
Updated
Interim results from Russia’s late-stage human trial of a vaccine could include data from 5,000 to 10,000 participants, Denis Logunov, a director at the Gamaleya Institute that developed the vaccine, has claimed.
The trial of the Sputnik V vaccine, involving 40,000 volunteers, has been under way in Moscow since the beginning of September. Interim results are expected to be published in November.
Hello, I’m taking over the blog for a short while. If you’d like to draw my attention to anything, your best bet’s probably Twitter, where I’m KevinJRawlinson.
Here’s a report by Nicola Davis and Pamela Duncan on deaths at home in England:
About a third more deaths in England are occurring at home than before the Covid-19 pandemic, data has revealed, with the majority down to causes other than the coronavirus.
In April, the UK government launched a campaign to encourage people who are unwell to seek medical attention, amid alarm that A&E attendances had plummeted. But the new data, which extends into mid-September, suggests those with life-threatening conditions are still shying away from hospitals.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that even after the peak of the first wave of Covid, deaths at home were higher than the five-year average, with about a third more deaths registered – a proportion has remained largely steady since mid-June. Deaths at home have also remained elevated in Wales.
Read more below
Updated
Twitter has removed a tweet by Scott Atlas, a controversial scientist who has Donald Trump’s ear, in which he wrongly stated that masks fail to protect against coronavirus.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, reported that Atlas has scattered discord inside the White House, so infuriating Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, that she complained to the vice-president, Mike Pence, calling for Atlas to be removed.
The Post reported that at one meeting in the Oval Office, Atlas placed himself behind the Resolute Desk after Trump had left the room. The scientist, a senior fellow from Stanford’s conservative Hoover Institution, denied the account.
On Sunday, Twitter took down the tweet in which Atlas said: “Masks work? NO.” The company said the post violated its policy on Covid-19 misinformation that prohibits “sharing false or misleading content which could lead to harm”.
Updated
Intensive care units (ICUs) at hospitals treating Covid-19 patients should do away with air-conditioning to limit the risk of infecting doctors, according to a study by the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru.
Reuters reports:
Frontline health workers around the world have borne the brunt of the coronavirus crisis. More than 500 doctors have died from Covid-19 in India – the world’s second-worst hit nation – as infections near 8 million, straining the country’s weak and underfunded public health system.
“The recirculation of the air by the centralized air-conditioning systems is what has led to the significant infection of our committed medical fraternity and has also led to deaths of doctors and nurses,” the study by the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, considered one of the country’s best science universities, said.
Reducing recirculation of air and increasing the use of outdoor air can lower the risk of spreading coronavirus in indoor spaces, the World Health Organization has said.
Updated
That’s all from me, Caroline Davies. Handing back to Aamna Mohdin now. Once again, thank you for your time.
Chinese health authorities investigating a recent Covid-19 outbreak say they have discovered live coronavirus on frozen food packaging, a finding that suggests the virus can survive in cold supply chains.
On Saturday the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it had found traces of live Covid-19 on the outer packing of frozen cod in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, marking the first time live coronavirus has been detected on the outside of refrigerated goods. Researchers were investigating the source of a recent cluster of cases linked to a hospital in Qingdao.
Genetic traces have previously been found in samples of frozen food but no living virus has been isolated before.
“It has been confirmed that contact with outer packaging contaminated by the new coronavirus can cause infection,” the agency said in a statement on its website, without specifying where the batch of frozen food came from.
China, which until the Qingdao outbreak had recorded no new local cases in 55 days, has been one of few countries to point to possible transmission through frozen food. When Beijing had a second outbreak in June after the virus had been largely contained, officials suggested the new cluster could have come from imported salmon.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said there has been no evidence that “handling food or consuming food is associated with Covid-19”. New Zealand ruled out the possibility that one of its first infections happened at a cold storage facility.
Read the full report here:
Lithuanians voted on Monday in the second round of a national election, with some of them casting ballots from their cars in special drive-in polling stations amid a local spike in Covid-19.
Voters arrived alone in their vehicles as instructed, wore face masks and dropped their votes into ballot boxes, AP reported.
There are four such drive-in stations in Lithuania. Only those in isolation and on an official list can vote that way until Thursday. All other registered voters can cast their ballots in the runoff at regular polling stations on 25 October.
Updated
In the UK, the new British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle today urged the UK government to end the quarantining of passengers arriving from abroad amid the pandemic.
“We need to get the economy moving again and this just isn’t possible when you’re asking people to quarantine for 14 days,” Doyle told an online aviation conference, a week after he replaced Alex Cruz as the CEO of British Airways, AFP reports.
“If we look abroad to our near neighbours, we see that business travel and indeed tourism is being prioritised by some countries,” Doyle added.
Addressing the same event, the UK’s transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said the government was looking at introducing a virus test alongside a shortened quarantine period.
“My ministerial colleagues and I have agreed a regime, based on a single test provided by the private sector and at the cost to the passenger, after a period of self-isolation.”
He added: “It will mean a single test for international arrivals, a week after arrival.”
Doyle was not convinced, however, telling the conference: “It’s our view that even if that quarantine period is reduced to seven days, people won’t travel here and the UK will get left behind.”
Updated
The United Nations says it will stockpile 1bn syringes around the world by the end of 2021, to be used for the delivery of any future coronavirus vaccine.
The UN Children’s Fund Unicef says it aims to get 520m syringes in its warehouses by the end of this year, to guarantee an initial supply in countries ahead of the vaccine.
When vaccines are approved for COVID-19, we'll be ready. By the end of this year, we'll have 520 million syringes - enough to wrap around the world one and a half times.
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) October 19, 2020
We must ensure this is a people's vaccine, accessible to every country.#VaccinesWork @gavi @WHO pic.twitter.com/IqIHCQq2SV
Henrietta Fore, Unicef executive director, said:
Vaccinating the world against Covid-19 will be one of the largest mass undertakings in human history, and we will need to move as quickly as the vaccines can be produced.
In order to move fast later, we must move fast now. By the end of the year, we will already have over half a billion syringes pre-positioned where they can be deployed quickly and cost effectively. That’s enough syringes to wrap around the world one and a half times.
Updated
At least half of India’s 1.3 billion people are likely to have been infected with coronavirus by next February, helping slow the spread of the disease, a member of a federal government committee tasked with providing projections said on Monday.
India has so far reported 7.55 million cases and is second only to the United States in terms of total infections.
But Covid-19 infections are decreasing in India after a peak in mid-September, with 61,390 new cases reported on average each day, according to a Reuters tally.
“Our mathematical model estimates that around 30% of the population is currently infected and it could go up to 50% by February,” Manindra Agrawal, a professor at the Indian Institute for Technology in Kanpur and a committee member, told Reuters.
The committee’s estimate for the current spread of the virus is much higher than the federal government’s serological surveys, which showed that only around 14% of the population had been infected, as of September.
But Agrawal said serological surveys might not be able to get sampling absolutely correct because of the sheer size of the population that they were surveying.
Instead, the committee of virologists, scientists and other experts, whose report was made public on Sunday, has relied on a mathematical model.
Experts have warned that infections could rise in India as the holiday season nears, with celebrations for the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Diwali due this month and in mid-November, respectively.
Updated
Hi. Caroline Davies here, taking over the blog for a short while. You can get in touch on caroline.davies@theguardian.com
Iran's daily coronavirus death toll hits 337
Iran saw a big spike in the number of Coronavirus deaths reported over the previous 24 hours with a rise from 252 to a new record of 337. The figures were described as the bitterest day and black day by the Iranian press.
The rise in deaths reflects a steady increase in the number of reported new infections over the past three weeks. Total cases are now recorded as 534,631 and the number of deaths at 30,712. Iran went through the 30,000 deaths barrier on Saturday. A total of 4,251 new cases were reported on Monday, a high figure but not a record.
The spike, the worst since Iran became the Middle East’s first country to be afflicted in February, also comes at a time of mounting political tensions with conservatives pressing in parliament for the impeachment of president Hassan Rouhani.
Tehran city council where as many as 50 % of total deaths has been reported has been pressing for a two week circuit breaker with the city effectively shut down for a fortnight .
Updated
Poland may see up to 20,000 new coronavirus cases a day at the start of next week if the pandemic continues spreading at its current pace, health minister Adam Niedzielski said on Monday.
Reuters reports:
He added that the government wanted private hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients.
Poland has recorded multiple new records in daily cases and deaths in recent weeks, with doctors reporting shortages of personnel, hospital beds and equipment. The government plans to launch a temporary hospital at a Warsaw stadium and also in other regions of the country.
A temporary national lockdown will be put into place in Wales, the Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, has announced.
The Welsh government believes a two-week lockdown, or firebreak, from Friday at 6pm is vital to help bring the virus under control.
Already about 2.3 million people in Wales are living under local lockdown rules – 15 of Wales’ 22 counties plus Bangor and Llanelli.
The Labour-led Welsh government has also banned people from travelling into Wales from tier 2 and tier 3 areas in other parts of the UK.
But the government believes it needs to go further. It argues that a sharp lockdown now will give it and the NHS in Wales breathing space ahead of a difficult winter.
Before the announcement, Plaid Cymru said it remained “steadfastly supportive” of a firebreak, arguing it was necessary to buy time to address ”the weaknesses of the test, trace and isolate system”.
How are countries across the world responding to a resurgence in coronavirus cases? PA Media has the following round-up:
France
- President Emmanuel Macron announced a 9pm to 6am curfew for nine French cities last week as new daily infections peaked at more than 30,000.
- The measure, which came into force on Saturday and is due to last at least four weeks, affects almost 20 million people in cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Toulouse.
- Macron also reinstated the state of health emergency for France, which ended three months ago.
Germany
- Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged people to avoid unnecessary travel, cancel parties and remain at home wherever possible.
- While Germany was praised for its response to the first wave of Covid-19, case numbers have rapidly climbed over recent weeks, setting a new record of 7,830 on Saturday.
- Merkel has called on Germans to obey the rules as they did earlier this year.
Italy
- Prime minister Giuseppe Conte announced new measures at the weekend meaning that mayors can close public squares after 9pm, permitting access only to reach homes or businesses – a move that stops short of the stricter French curfew.
- Restaurants and bars can only operate with table service after 6pm, but can stay open until midnight, while local festivals have been banned.
- With more testing in place, new daily infections in Italy have doubled in a week to more than 10,000.
Netherlands
- Prime minister Mark Rutte said last week that the country needed to move a step closer to a full lockdown due to the spread of the virus, with cases increasing by some 60% in a week.
- As of last Wednesday, bars and restaurants were closed, the sale of alcohol after 8pm was banned and households could receive no more than three guests per day.
- People were also advised to limit their use of public transport as much as possible.
Czech Republic
- A surge in infections in the Czech Republic in recent weeks has made it one of Europe’s worst-hit countries.
- Restrictions include a ban on sports competitions, the closure of bars and restaurants, and a ban on public gatherings of more than six people.
- The new measures sparked a violent protest in Prague at the weekend.
Australia
- Restrictions in Melbourne have been eased, with residents no longer limited in the time they can spend away from home for education or socialising.
- Restrictions allowing people to travel three miles from home have been increased to 15 miles, and outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people from two households will be allowed.
- The partial reopening of shops, bars and restaurants will begin on 2 November.
Updated
Belgium is facing a “tsunami” of infection, the country’s health minister has said.
Belgium is losing control of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and is very close to being overwhelmed by a “tsunami” of infection, the country’s health minister has said.
Frank Vandenbroucke, the federal minister, told the broadcaster RTL that Belgians needed to radically alter their behaviour.
He described the situation in francophone Wallonia in the south and in the country’s capital, Brussels, as “the worst, and therefore the most dangerous in all of Europe”.
He said:
We are the most affected region in all of Europe. We are really close to a tsunami … that we no longer control what is happening. Today, we can still control what is happening, but with enormous difficulties and stress.
If it continues to increase, the number of hospitalisations will be such that we will have to postpone more and more non-Covid care, which is also very dangerous. [The government] has only one message to the public: protect yourself, protect your loved ones, so as not to be contaminated.
Updated
Switzerland reports 8,737 new cases over weekend
Switzerland reports 8,737 new coronavirus cases over the weekend.
Reuters reports the country’s public health agency reported a total of 83,159 confirmed cases in Switzerland and tiny neighbouring principality Liechtenstein.
The death toll rose by 14 to 1,837.
Updated
Poland will open a temporary hospital at Warsaw’s national stadium to ease the strain on the healthcare system from spiking coronavirus cases, the government said on Monday.
Reuters reports:
Poland has recorded multiple new records in daily cases and deaths in the past weeks, with doctors reporting shortages of personnel, hospital beds and equipment.
“I fear that looking at the development of the situation we will have his infrastructure set up for weeks if not months in several places in Poland,” government spokesman Piotr Muller told state broadcaster TVP Info.
Michal Dworczyk, the prime minister’s chief of staff, told radio Zet the hospital will be set up in the stadium’s conference rooms rather than the 58,000 capacity arena, with beds for 500 COVID-19 patients and an option to double that to 1,000 beds. The first beds will probably be available this week.
Ireland is bracing for tighter Covid-19 restrictions, including the closure of most shops and amenities and further curbs on sport and outdoor dining.
Leaders of three ruling parties – Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens – are to meet this afternoon to agree the final terms of a partial lockdown that is expected to last at least several weeks.
Ireland already has strong measures, including a ban on non-essential household visits, but health officials say that without further tightening surging rates of infection will spiral and threaten the health system.
The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population is 251. On Sunday health authorities reported three deaths and 1,283 infections, bringing the respective totals to 1,852 and
Opposition parties have broadly supported the need for further restrictions but some business groups have protested and warned of a wave of bankruptcies.
Hi, I’m Aamna and I’ll be taking over the liveblog for the rest of the day. If you want to get in touch, you can email me (aamna.mohdin@thguardian.com) or message me on Twitter (@aamnamohdin)
Summary of the latest updates
Below is an update of the latest coronavirus developments from around the world. I will now be handing over to my esteemed colleague Aamna Mohdin, who will be running the blog.
- Malaysian health authorities reported 865 new coronavirus cases on Monday, raising the country’s total to 21,363. The south-east Asian country, which imposed targeted lockdowns this month as infections surged, also recorded three new deaths, bringing its total number of fatalities to 190.
- The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide passed 40m on Monday, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. Total infections reached 40,050,902 on Monday. There have been 1,113,750 deaths, most of which have been in the US, followed by Brazil and India. The new numbers came as fresh measures to combat the spread of the virus came into effect in several European countries.
-
Austria is limiting gatherings to a maximum of six people indoors and 12 people outdoors, chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday as the country struggles to stop the steady rise in daily coronavirus infections.
- China became the first major economy to recover from Covid-19 pandemic. The Chinese economy grew 4.9% between July and September, according to government data, as China becomes the first major economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The year-on-year expansion, while slightly lower than analyst expectations, represents a dramatic reversal from the first quarter of this year when the economy shrunk by 6.8%, China’s first contraction since 1992 when officials began keeping quarterly GDP data.
- Italy’s mayors were given new coronavirus powers amid a record case rise. Among the powers is the ability to impose 9 pm curfews in their towns and cities. Italy reported a record figure of 11,705 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, the health ministry has said, up from the previous peak of 10,925 posted on Saturday.
Updated
Angela Merkel has urged people to stay home “whenever possible”, as Germany records the highest number of active Covid-19 cases since early April.
“We have to do everything we can now to ensure that the virus does not spread uncontrollably – every day counts,” Merkel said in her
weekly podcast over the weekend.
Falling short of announcing further restrictions, the German chancellor appealed to the public to voluntarily restrain their social movements.
She said: “I ask you to refrain from any trip that is not really necessary, any celebration that is not really necessary. Please stay at home – wherever you are, whenever possible.”
The country’s disease control agency on Monday recorded 4,325 confirmed new infections, the second-highest daily increase ever measured on a Monday. Since not all local health authorities pass on case numbers over the weekend, Germany’s figures for the start of the week are usually lower.
On Sunday, the Robert Koch Institute recorded 61,710 active cases, a 59% week-on-week increase.
Merkel’s appeal has divided opinion in Germany: for tabloid Bild, the chancellor’s words were symptomatic of a government running out of options to slow down the spread of the virus as more and more local governments are ignoring central directives.
Other papers, such as the left-leaning broadsheet taz, thought the podcast was strategically clever: “The chancellor knows what she is doing”, wrote commentator Ulrike Herrmann. “Cynically, she has to wait until the hospitals are so full of patients with Corona that a significant majority of Germans accept further bans as inevitable.”
In the meantime, Merkel’s government has announced it is going to subsidise bars and restaurants purchasing patio heaters to allow diners and drinkers to spend more time outside during the winter months.
The move comes just as many regions have taken steps to ban the same devices because of their high CO2 emissions. But even the Green party said it was in favour of temporarily lifting such bans: “In pandemic times we should not be more saintly than the Pope,” the Green MP Dieter Janecek told Handelsblatt newspaper.
Updated
Malaysian health authorities reported 865 new coronavirus cases on Monday, raising the country’s total to 21,363. The south-east Asian country, which imposed targeted lockdowns this month as infections surged, also recorded three new deaths, bringing its total number of fatalities to 190
Updated
In the UK, the government is still facing resistance over its attempt to move Greater Manchester into a tier 3 lockdown.
The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has said he is willing to resolve the impasse but won’t “just roll over” at the sight of a cheque.
For all the latest coronavirus developments from the UK, you can read our UK live blog here:
Updated
Global coronavirus cases pass 40m
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide passed 40m on Monday, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.
Total infections reached 40,050,902 on Monday. There have been 1,113,750 deaths, most of which have been in the US, followed by Brazil and India.
The new numbers came as fresh measures to combat the spread of the virus came into effect in several European countries.
Belgium imposes a nationwide overnight curfew from Monday and Switzerland has made wearing face masks compulsory in indoor public spaces, the latest measures by European governments to fight a powerful second coronavirus wave.
The latest surge in cases sent the total registered worldwide past 40 million at 0715 GMT Monday, according to an AFP tally based on official sources. More than half the caseload is in the three hardest-hit countries: the US, India and Brazil.
In Europe, more than 250,000 people have died, but the deepening crisis there stands in contrast to Australia, where the second-biggest city has begun easing a lockdown that kept millions of people largely confined to their homes for months.
Cafes and restaurants across Belgium were shuttered for four weeks as the country tackled its own infection spike, part of a continent-wide surge that has seen a 44% increase in cases across Europe in the past week.
Some businesses have protested despite authorities warning the country was in the middle of an exponential increase in cases.
“We don’t feel considered, and it hurts my heart,” said Angelo Bussi, a restaurant manager in Brussels. “Everyone is in pain. It’s horrible.”
Updated
Austria is limiting gatherings to a maximum of six people indoors and 12 people outdoors, chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday as the country struggles to stop the steady rise in daily coronavirus infections.
Professionally organised events will have higher limits combined with requirements such as assigned seating, Kurz told a news conference. Austria’s daily tally of confirmed coronavirus cases hit a record of 1,747 on Saturday.
Updated
The Philippines recorded on Monday 2,638 new coronavirus infections and 26 additional deaths.
The south-east Asian country’s total confirmed cases had climbed to 359,169, while its death toll had risen to 6,675, the health ministry said in a bulletin. Total recoveries had increased to 310,303, it said.
Updated
Dutch firm Philips said on Monday its third-quarter net profit rose sharply as its health arm got a boost from demand driven by the coronavirus pandemic.
Net profit for the three months to September jumped more than 63% from a year earlier to €340m ($400m) while sales were up 10% at €5bn, said the company, which has diversified out of its traditional electrical appliances business into health.
“I am pleased that, under challenging circumstances, we have been able to execute our plans and return to growth and improved profitability,” chief executive Frans van Houten said in a statement.
Van Houten highlighted the progress made by the medical division.
“It is clear that the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, and our teams remain fully focused on delivering against our triple duty of care – meeting critical customer needs, safeguarding the health and safety of our employees, and ensuring business continuity,” he said.
Investors welcomed the figures and an accompanying upgrade to its 2021-25 sales forecast, pushing the shares up nearly 4% in early trade on the Amsterdam stock market.
Updated
Russia’s daily tally of coronavirus cases surged to a new record high of 15,982 on Monday, including 5,376 in the capital, Moscow, pushing the national case total to 1,415,316 since the pandemic began.
Authorities reported 179 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 24,366.
Updated
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said at the weekend that researchers investigating a recent outbreak in Qingdao, a city in eastern China, had detected living samples of the coronavirus on the packaging of frozen cod.
The outbreak in Qingdao, the first locally transmitted cases in almost two months, was traced back to two dock workers who had been initially diagnosed as asymptomatic. After they were taken to a local chest hospital 12 other people were infected.
It is not clear whether the two dock workers contracted the virus from the packaging of frozen food but the CDC warned those handling frozen products not to have direct contact with the goods.
While China’s CDC said that there had been no cases of consumers contracting the virus, some internet users have started calling for a temporary ban on frozen food imports.
China, which until the Qingdao outbreak, had seen no new local cases in 55 days, has been one of the only countries to point to the possible transmission through frozen foods. When Beijing had a second outbreak over the summer after the virus had been largely contained, officials suggested the new cluster could have come from imported salmon.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said there has been no evidence that “handling food or consuming food is associated with Covid-19”. New Zealand also ruled out the possibility that one of the country’s first cases had been infected at a cold storage facility where the person worked.
Updated
Global cases near 40m
The number of global coronavirus cases is nearing a landmark 40,000,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
On Monday, the number of infections was at 39,965,414, and global death was 1,113,352. The highest number of deaths are in the with 219,674, followed by Brazil (153,675) and India (114,610).
Updated
Saeb Erekat in medical coma after coronavirus complications
Long-time chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat was in “critical” condition and in a medically induced coma on Monday, said the Israeli hospital in Jerusalem treating him for coronavirus complications.
The Palestine Liberation Organization said on Sunday that Erekat had been admitted to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital’s coronavirus intensive care unit due to “chronic health problems in the respiratory system”.
The 65-year-old had tested positive for Covid-19 on 19 October, the PLO said.
Erekat had “arrived in serious condition” and was receiving oxygen, the hospital said on Sunday, adding that his condition was serious but stable.
On Monday morning, Hadassah said that after a “quiet night” his condition “deteriorated and is now defined critical and due to respiratory distress, he is anaesthetised and ventilated”.
Erekat, who lives in the biblical town of Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, underwent lung-transplant surgery in the US in 2017.
“Erekat is a challenge to treat for coronavirus since he had lung transplants, he is immunosuppressed, and has another bacterial infection in addition to coronavirus,” Hadassah said on Monday.
Hadassah said it was “is in contact with international medical authorities regarding the treatment policy of this complex patient”.
The Jerusalem-born Erekat serves as the PLO’s secretary-general and in remains Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s inner circle.
He has consistently voiced support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
There have been 42,490 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the West Bank, including 381 deaths.
Updated
After entire nations were shut down during the first surge of the coronavirus earlier this year, some countries and US states are trying more targeted measures as cases rise again around the world, especially in Europe and the Americas.
New York’s new round of virus shutdowns zeroes in on individual neighbourhoods, closing schools and businesses in hot spots measuring just a couple of square miles.
Spanish officials limited travel to and from some parts of Madrid before restrictions were widened throughout the capital and some suburbs.
Italian authorities have sometimes quarantined spots as small as a single building.
While countries including Israel and the Czech Republic have reinstated nationwide closures, other governments hope smaller-scale shutdowns can work this time, in conjunction with testing, contact tracing and other initiatives they’ve now built up.
The concept of containing hot spots isn’t new, but it’s being tested under new pressures as authorities try to avoid a dreaded resurgence of illness and deaths, this time with economies weakened from earlier lockdowns, populations chafing at the idea of renewed restrictions and some communities complaining of unequal treatment.
Some scientists say a localised approach, if well-tailored and explained to the public, can be a nimble response at a complex point in the pandemic. “It is pragmatic in appreciation of restriction fatigue’ … but it is strategic, allowing for mobilisation of substantial resources to where they are needed most,” says Dr Wafaa El-Sadr, who is following New York City’s efforts closely and is on some city advisory boards.
Other scientists are warier. “If we’re serious about wiping out Covid in an area, we need coordinated responses across” as wide a swath as possible, says Benjamin Althouse, a research scientist with the Institute for Disease Modeling in Washington state.
Updated
Hello everyone. I am taking over the live feed this morning, bringing you all the latest global updates on coronavirus. Please do get in touch with me while I work if you want to share any comments or news tips. You can get in touch via any of the channels below. Thanks in advance.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Updated
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. Thanks for following along. My colleague Sarah Marsh will take it from here.
In the meantime, here are some huuuuuge and relaxing trees that have nothing to do with the pandemic:
Giant Sequoias with human for scale pic.twitter.com/i9I8n9n4dd
— Domenico (@AvatarDomy) October 18, 2020
Updated
Summary
Here are the key pandemic developments worldwide from the last few hours:
- Global coronavirus infections are nearing a staggering 40m cases, with 39.8m confirmed on the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
- China became the first major economy to recover from Covid-19 pandemic. The Chinese economy grew 4.9% between July and September, according to government data, as China becomes the first major economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The year-on-year expansion, while slightly lower than analyst expectations, represents a dramatic reversal from the first quarter of this year when the economy shrunk by 6.8%, China’s first contraction since 1992 when officials began keeping quarterly GDP data.
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Dr Anthony Fauci said he was “absolutely not” surprised that Donald Trump contracted coronavirus. In an interview with 60 Minutes aired on Sunday, shortly before Trump held a rally in Nevada, the top US infectious diseases expert and sidelined White House coronavirus taskforce member said: “I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded, no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask.”
- Europe’s death toll has passed 250,000, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.
- At his rally in Nevada, Trump claimed that the US was “rounding the turn” of the pandemic, a common claim at his appearances, despite the weekly case average rising in 48 of the country’s 50 states. On Friday there was the highest 24-hour infection total since July, with 68,000 new cases reported in one day. The US has 8.1m cases and nearly 220,000 deaths. Biden responded to Trump’s repeated claims: “As my grandfather would say, this guy’s gone around the bend if he thinks we’ve turned the corner. Turning the corner? Things are getting worse,” Biden said.
- Italy’s mayors were given new coronavirus powers amid a record case rise. Among the powers is the ability to impose 9pm curfews in their towns and cities.Italy reported a record figure of 11,705 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, the health ministry has said, up from the previous peak of 10,925 posted on Saturday.
- Restrictions have eased in the Australian city of Melbourne, which has been under a strict lockdown for more than 100 days. On Monday, hairdressers, dog grooming businesses and real estate inspections reopened.
- South Africa’s health minister tested positive for coronavirus. Zweli Mkhize announced that he and his wife had tested positive and were quarantining at home. South Africa reported 1,928 new cases on Saturday, pushing the total to just over 700,000 and 18,408 deaths.
- Slovenia’s prime minister has said on Twitter that a 30-day epidemic would be declared on Monday, with stricter measures to be imposed nationally.
Updated
China becomes first major economy to recover from Covid-19 pandemic
The Chinese economy grew 4.9% between July and September, according to government data, as China becomes the first major economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The year-on-year expansion, while slightly lower than analyst expectations, represents a dramatic reversal from the first quarter of this year when the economy shrunk by 6.8%, China’s first contraction since 1992 when officials began keeping quarterly GDP data.
China’s central bank governor Yi Gang said on Sunday that officials predict annual growth of about 2%. “The Chinese economy remains resilient with great potential. Continued recovery is anticipated, which will benefit the global recovery,” he said.
China is expected to be the only G20 economy to grow this year. The global economy is slated to contract by 4.4%, according to the International Monetary Fund, the steepest downturn since the Great Depression:
India’s tally of coronavirus infections stood at 7.55 million on Monday, having risen by 55,722 cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed.
The world’s second-most populous country also has the second-highest number of infections in the world, after the United States, which has around 8.1 million.
However, India recorded its lowest death toll in nearly four months on Monday with 579 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, taking total fatalities to 114,610.
Australian state of Victoria reports single-digit case rise for sixth straight day
The Australian state of Victoria, which has been under one of the strictest, longest lockdowns in the world, has recorded four new coronavirus cases and one death, bringing the state’s toll from the virus to 817 and the national figure to 905.
It’s the sixth day in a row the state has recorded an increase of new cases in the single digits.
AAP:
Victorians woke to more freedom on Monday after Covid-19 restrictions were announced by the state premier, Daniel Andrews, on Monday. People in Melbourne are now allowed to travel 25km from home and there will be no limit on time spent outdoors.
Outdoor gatherings have an increased limit from five people to 10 from two households, while facilities such as skate parks, golf courses and tennis courts will reopen.
Melburnians will also be able to get a haircut, see an allied health professional, renovate their home, wash their car and bid at an auction, though a number of strict safety protocols will be in place.
In regional Victoria, up to two people plus dependents will be allowed to visit homes once a day, while hospitality venues can increase their capacity to 70 people outside and 40 people inside.
Updated
The last face that meets visitors to the Prado’s first post-lockdown exhibition is one of the very few that appears to look the spectator squarely in the eye.
The cool gaze of the Portuguese-Spanish artist María Roësset – free of guilt, shame, saccharine virtue or predatory intent – comes as something of a relief after the sanctimonious, salacious and often sad series of pictures that precede it.
To reach Roësset, a gauntlet must be run: of women depicted in art variously as fallen, proud, mad, naked, and one even presented as femme fatale, her face partially bathed in red light and a cigarette clasped in a holder between her fingers.
The exhibition, whose English title is Uninvited Guests, explores how artworks bought and celebrated by the Spanish state between 1833 and 1931 treated women as people and artists:
Global report: Fauci 'absolutely not' surprised Trump got Covid; Biden warns virus worsening
Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert and sidelined White House coronavirus taskforce member, has said he was “absolutely not” surprised that Donald Trump contracted coronavirus, as Joe Biden warned that the coronavirus outbreak was worsening.
In an interview with 60 Minutes aired on Sunday, shortly before Trump held a rally in Nevada, Fauci said: “I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded, no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask.”
Fauci also said the White House had been controlling his media appearances.
“I certainly have not been allowed to go on many, many, many shows that have asked for me,” Fauci said, adding that the restrictions had been inconsistent.
At Trump’s rally, the president claimed that the US was “rounding the turn” of the pandemic, a common claim at his appearances, despite the weekly case average rising in 48 of the country’s 50 states. Friday saw the highest 24-hour infection total since July, with 68,000 new cases reported in one day. The US has 8.1m cases and nearly 220,000 deaths.
Once considered a battleground, Nevada has not swung for a Republican presidential contender since 2004.
Trump also mocked his Democratic opponent for listening to scientists:
Here’s more on that brutal takedown from New Zealand Journalist Tova O’Brien, by my colleague Eleanor Ainge Roy:
A New Zealand journalist is being praised around the world for her determined effort to shut down the spread of Covid-19 conspiracy theories during an interview with a minor party politician.
Newshub’s political editor, Tova O’Brien, interviewed the leader of the Advance New Zealand party, Jami-Less Ross. The party failed to secure enough votes to enter parliament Saturday’s general election, after peddling rumours and misinformation on social media about the coronavirus.
At one stage during the interview O’Brien held up her hand as Ross was talking about the mortality rate of Covid-19 compared to the flu, telling him she would not allow him to spread lies on her programme:
China the only G20 economy forecast to grow this year
A little more on China’s broader economic outlook:
The Chinese economy expanded 4.9% in the third quarter, according to government data on Monday, marking the country’s lead over much of the rest of the world still struggling from the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the growth in GDP, compared to the same period last year, is lower than analyst expectations it underlines the country’s recovery as factories and businesses have returned to work and consumer spending has picked up again.
China’s central bank governor Yi Gang said on Sunday that officials predicted the economy would grow by about 2% for the year.
“The Chinese economy remains resilient with great potential. Continued recovery is anticipated, which will benefit the global recovery,” he said.
China is expected to be the only G20 economy to grow this year, while the global economy is slated to contract by 4.4%.
Analysts say the strength of China’s economic recovery remains uncertain in the face of job losses, uneven growth across the country, household and corporate debt, as well as trade frictions as ties with the US and other trading partners continue to deteriorate.
More on China’s real estate figures:
China’s property market was among the first to recover from the pandemic thanks to cheaper credit and a relaxation of curbs on home purchases.
But policymakers are concerned about bubble risk. New restrictions have been rolled out by a handful of big cities recently as authorities sought to prevent sharp price rises and control financing activity by developers.
Since August, regulators have tightened scrutiny on property developers to tackle unbridled borrowing in the sector to curb debt risks.
Property sales by floor area rose 7.3% from a year earlier in September, slowing from a robust 13.7% growth in August, Reuters calculations showed.
Growth in new construction starts measured by floor area declined 1.9% last month, easing from the 2.4% increase in August.
Funds raised by China’s property developers grew 4.4% in the January-September period, compared with 3.0% growth for the first eight months of 2020.
The country’s property investments are estimated to rise 6% this year, a Reuters poll showed in late September, compared with 9.9% gain in 2019.
China's real estate investment rises at fastest pace in nearly 18 months
China’s September real estate investment rose at the fastest pace in nearly 1-1/2 years, supported by robust construction activity as the economic recovery picks up steam after the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reports.
Real estate investment in September rose 12% from a year earlier, the biggest jump since April last year when it also increased by the same amount, and quickening from 11.8% seen in August, according to Reuters calculations based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.
For the January-September period, property investment grew 5.6% on an annual basis, picking up the pace from a 4.6% gain in January-August.
New Zealand TV journalist Tova O’Brien has been praised for her interview with Advance NZ party co-leader Jami-Lee Ross. As Ross began to question the mortality rate of Covid-19, O’Brien cut him off, saying he was talking ‘rubbish’. When Ross complained, she replied: ‘If you’re going to come on the show and say things which are factually incorrect, I can do that actually’. The interview, posted to Twitter, has been viewed millions of time across the world. Ross lost his seat in New Zealand’s recent election:
As we wait for analysis of China’s growth figures, here is how other Asian markets looked today, from Reuters:
Asian markets started higher on Monday, buoyed by hopes of a US fiscal package before the US presidential elections next month and expectations of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year, though the mood was still cautious as infections jump, Reuters reports.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.26% for its second straight day of gains.
Boosting overall sentiment, drugmaker Pfizer Inc said on Friday it could have a coronavirus vaccine ready in the United States by the end of this year.
Japan’s Nikkei climbed about 1% while South Korea’s KOSPI and Australian shares were up 0.7% each.
New Zealand was a tad lower after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won a second term at elections over the weekend, having risen over the week in anticipation of such a result.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 jumped 0.5% in early Asian trading after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday she was optimistic legislation on a wide-ranging coronavirus relief package could be pushed through before the election.
China's growth rises to 4.9% in latest quarter
China’s economic growth rises to 4.9% in latest quarter as businesses, spending recover from pandemic, AP reports. We’ll have more on this shortly.
Updated
The Guardian’s Denis Campbell and Peter Walker report from England:
Greater Manchester is set to run out of beds to treat people left seriously ill by Covid-19, and some of the region’s 12 hospitals are already full, a leaked NHS document has revealed.
It showed that by last Friday the resurgence of the disease had left hospitals in Salford, Stockport and Bolton at maximum capacity, with no spare beds to help with the growing influx. The picture it paints ratchets up the pressure on ministers to reach a deal with local leaders over the region’s planned move to the top level of coronavirus restrictions.
It suggested that Greater Manchester’s hospitals are quickly heading towards being overwhelmed by the sheer number of people with Covid needing emergency care to save their lives, in the same way that those in Liverpool have become in recent weeks. By Friday 211 of the 257 critical care beds in Greater Manchester – 82% of the total supply – were already being used for either those with Covid or people who were critically ill because of another illness:
Panama is the latest country to offer travellers a Covid-19 test when they arrive at its main airport, a little less than a week after resuming international flights following a seven-month suspension due to the pandemic, Reuters reports.
The Sofia SARS Antigen Fluorescent Immunoassay tests are meant to prevent the import of new cases.
International flights resumed on Monday, 12 October.
Since then, some 1,000 people were tested, said Yelitza Campos, an adviser at Jers Medical, the distributer of the tests in Panama.
A Panamanian health official said of those tested, 20 people have come back positive for Covid-19 . Raffoul Arab, the manager of the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, said the tests cost $50 for travellers who do not already have a negative test less than 48 hours old.
Panama has so far registered about 125,000 official cases and 2,500 deaths.
Updated
In England, people with suspected Covid-19 symptoms were on Sunday sent to a nonexistent site in Kent, in what was seen as a further blow to the country’s failing test-and-trace system.
Council officials in Sevenoaks said the address had been listed on the government website for people to arrange appointments on the national booking portal.
However, the mobile testing unit, which was meant to be introduced in response to a local rise in coronavirus rates, was not deployed to start on site today for “an unknown reason”, according to a spokesperson:
Updated
Insider reports that a “viral video” that shows teens dancing back to back with masks on has been used to critique coronavirus restrictions – but the video shows a joke by Czech dance school students:
This dance is just a very sweet joke by a Czech dance school, not an example of 'crazy' Covid restrictions:https://t.co/hxYrrqpnjV https://t.co/nJ0jbzr7qN
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 19, 2020
A viral video showing a large group of teens dancing in a ballroom back-to-back with masks on has been circulating online over the last week and has become a popular piece of media used in critiques of coronavirus restrictions.
In a tweet accompanying the video, which has been viewed over 3 million times, user @YellowCube7 claimed that it showed “a Prom dance in the age of the global COVID scam.”
But Insider has learned that the video was actually filmed at a Czech dance school as a joke. The 28-second-long video shows dozens of young people dressed in suits and gowns slow-dancing, but each pair is facing away from each other while interlocking their arms together behind them.
China reported 13 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for 18 October, the same as a day earlier, the health commission said on Monday.
All of the new infections were imported, according to a statement by the National Health Commission.
China reported 33 new asymptomatic patients, compared with 34 a day earlier.
As of Sunday, mainland China had 85,685 confirmed coronavirus cases, the health authority said. The Covid-19 death toll stands at 4,634.
Moving away from Trump:
Mexico’s health ministry reported on Sunday 4,119 additional cases of the novel coronavirus and 108 more deaths in the country, bringing the official number of cases to 851,227 and the death toll to 86,167.
Health officials have said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Biden has just tweeted:
Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Vote out Donald Trump.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 19, 2020
Speaking of super-spreader events:
Very low mask to MAGA-cap ratio at Trump rally in Nevada pic.twitter.com/U4leeC9d4s
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 18, 2020
Dr Fauci says he was 'absolutely not' surprised that Trump caught coronavirus
In that same 60 Minutes interview, Dr Fauci said he was “absolutely not” surprised that Trump contracted coronavirus “after seeing POTUS at what ‘turned out to be a super-spreader event’ at the White House”:
Dr. Fauci says he was “absolutely not” surprised that President Trump got sick with coronavirus after seeing POTUS at what “turned out to be a super-spreader event” at the White House. https://t.co/Iq75GoCErk pic.twitter.com/iDWEaoX582
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 18, 2020
Dr Fauci says White House controlled when he could speak with media
As Trump speaks, US current affairs show 60 Minutes has aired an interview with the country’s top infectious diseases expert and (sidelined) member of the White House coronavirus task force Dr Anthony Fauci in which he says the White House controlled when Dr Fauci could speak to media.
Has the White House been controlling when Dr. Fauci can speak with the media?
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 18, 2020
“To be honest… yes,” says Dr. Fauci. “There has been a restriction… but, it isn’t consistent.” https://t.co/LXBve3PUWC pic.twitter.com/YOoNLnAHc9
Same:
I have no idea what's going on at the Trump rally rn pic.twitter.com/O3GZq0h1Xe
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 18, 2020
Trump then says the Biden family is a “criminal enterprise”.
Biden is gone, Biden is “gonezo” he says.
“Can you imagine having Kamala?” Trump asks the crowd, which boos loudly in response. “The most liberal member of congress,” he says.
Here is CNN’s fact check on that claim:
In 2019, GovTrack, a non-partisan organization that tracks bills in Congress, rankedHarris as the “most liberal compared to All Senators.” One measure the organization uses is comparing how many bipartisan bills each senator cosponsors to how many bills they co-sponsored in total. Harris had the lowest at 15% in 2019.
During her primary run, Harris eventually disagreed with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on whether private health insurance should play a role in Medicare for All, a bill that Harris originally co-sponsored.
In a January 2019 town hall, Harris was asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper if she supported eliminating private insurance. The senator answered affirmatively, saying she would be OK with cutting insurers out of the mix. When Harris released her Medicare for All plan months later in July it stopped short of completely eliminating private insurance.
Trump mocks Biden for 'listening to scientists'
Trump mocked Joe Biden for listening to scientists. He puts on a funny voice and says, “He’ll listen to the scientists.”
He claims falsely that Democrats are keeping states closed “to hurt us.”
He lists Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania as states that should reopen. All are seeing an increase in their average weekly cases.
Trump mocks Biden for pledging to listen to scientists. Watch this clip and ask yourself if Trump was trying to kill Americans by infecting them with coronavirus, how would it sound different? pic.twitter.com/aZSugwvoML
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 18, 2020
Here’s a better visual on the lack of masks:
Very low mask to MAGA-cap ratio at Trump rally in Nevada pic.twitter.com/U4leeC9d4s
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 18, 2020
Updated
Trump is now listing states that he says “should be open,” by which he means relax coronavirus restrictions.
“Get the places open, let’s go,” he says.
Trump falsely claims pandemic "rounding the turn, with or without a vaccine."
Trump has just said, falsely, that the pandemic is “rounding the turn. We’re rounding the turn, vaccine or not.”
In fact, only two US states, Vermont and Missouri, have reported falls in the average number of reported coronavirus cases over the past week. The outbreak is surging nearly everywhere else.
Connecticut and Florida lead the nation, with increases of 50% or more. Another 27 states rose between 10% and 50%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 8.1m cases have been confirmed in the US, killing nearly 220,000 people. On Saturday, the university confirmed another 57,519 cases and 711 deaths.
In the midwest, states including Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin are seeing steep rises in case numbers, sourced by public health officials to the reopening of schools and colleges in major cities:
Updated
Trump is now listing the names of companies working on coronavirus vaccines.
“Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer,” great companies, he says.
Then he touts Regeneron, “great company,” he says. “And by the way we’re making it free for everyone,” (Trump does not have the power to do this).
“I wasn’t feeling great,” he says. “And the next day I took this drug. One hour. And I felt like Superman,” he says. (You would think he might be embarrassed to mention Superman given this anecdote from the New York Times a week ago:
Trump says Regeneron made him feel like "Superman" after one hour. You'd think he would be embarrassed given this, but no: pic.twitter.com/SgHBFj01k6
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 18, 2020
Trump has just mentioned the virus for the first time, calling it the “plague form China.”
“And how do I look?” he says, in reference to his recovery from Covid. “Do I look ok?”
People chant “USA! USA!” in response.
Trump says China failed to protect Europe or the US from the virus.
Now he says, “we saved over two million lives by doing what we did.” This is false. The two million number, which Trump quotes often, was an early figure given by scientists as what might happen if no action was taken whatsoever.
The US has the highest death toll in the world, with nearly 220,000 lives lost.
Trump is now speaking. As usual he begins by boasting about the size of the crowd.
Most of that crowd does not seem to be wearing masks, despite Nevada seeing an increase in the average number of cases reported in the last week (along with 47 other states).
Trump is about to speak in Nevada. As usual the highest concentration of masks is among people standing directly behind him. Looking at footage, I'd bet there are waaay more baseball caps than masks among the rest of the crowd pic.twitter.com/hMvC5loELl
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 18, 2020
Trump will be speaking today in Nevada as the US on Friday saw its highest one-day case total since July.
As my colleague Lauren Aratani reported: More than 68,000 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the US on Friday, the highest number in a single day since July, further confirmation the country is in the midst of a coronavirus resurgence.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project, the last time the US saw close to 68,000 new cases in a day was 31 July, when a summer peak was starting to recede.
As we wait for the Trump rally to begin, here’s news from Australia:
The Australian home affairs department has reported a significant reduction in the number of visas being granted – including refugee visas, which have been reduced by almost a third – in large part due to the pandemic.
Despite the drop in visa numbers, the department still raised $2.2bn in revenue through applications.
Of the 13,171 humanitarian places the department reported as delivered, 11,521 were given to refugees outside of Australia who had been assessed as needing protection. The government has set a target of 18,750 places, meaning home affairs failed to meet its metric, delivering almost 30% less places than the year before:
Trump holds Nevada rally
US president Donald Trump is set to begin a rally in Nevada any minute. I’ll be bringing you any major coronavirus-related moments from that event.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest from around the world for the next few hours.
Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan with news from where you live, questions and feedback.
As the total number of infections worldwide nears the staggering milestone of 40m cases, with 39.8, currently confirmed on the Johns Hopkins University tracker, almost every US state is seeing a rise in the average number of cases reported over the last week.
Only two US states, Vermont and Missouri, have reported falls in their averages.
- Italy’s mayors get new coronavirus powers amid record cases. Italy’s mayors will have the power to impose 9pm curfews in their towns and cities if necessary as the country tries to contain a coronavirus resurgence.
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South African health minister tests positive for coronavirus. South Africa’s health minister Zweli Mkhize and his wife have tested positive for Covid-19, his office announced on Sunday.“I am now in quarantine at home and both my wife and I remain optimistic that we will fully recover from this virus,” Mkhize said in a statement. South Africa reported 1,928 new cases on Saturday, pushing the total to just over 700,000 and 18,408 deaths.
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Slovenia’s prime minister has said on Twitter that a 30-day epidemic would be declared on Monday, with stricter measures to be imposed nationally.
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Twitter has removed a “misleading” tweet by a top US coronavirus adviser for violating its Covid-19 information policy.
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Europe has passed the grim milestone of 250,000 coronavirus deaths, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.
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Italy reported a record figure of 11,705 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, the health ministry has said, up from the previous peak of 10,925 posted on Saturday.
- There have been a further 16,982 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data, and 67 more deaths.
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The mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has written to political leaders in Westminster urging them to help secure a “fair financial framework” for local lockdowns.
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Switzerland is stepping up its measures to tackle Covid-19, with new restrictions coming into force tomorrow, including mandatory mask-wearing indoors and a 15-person limit to public gatherings.
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Saeb Erekat, a senior figure in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), has been taken to hospital with coronavirus.
- The number of deaths in Iran from Covid-19 now exceeds 30,000, with the country’s health ministry saying the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic was now 30,123.
